#camaro strode

[en-wheelz-me]

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Chevrolet Camaro STRODE, 2022 (1969), by Ringbrothers. Presented at SEMA by the renowned customisers, a restomod first generation Camaro fitted with a Wegner Motorsports LS3 V8 with a Whipple supercharger providing rear wheels with 1,010hp via a Bowler Tremec T-56 Magnum six-speed manual transmission. The bodywork has been reworked in carbon fibre and is 6 inches wider than the original. The project took 6,500 hours to complete

[musclecardefinition]

Meet the RingBrothers “Strode” 1969 Chevy Camaro.     => Read more!

https://www.musclecardefinition.com/

[mrprettywhenhecries]

separate ways [b.h]

one. | don't tell me you love me

Billy Hargrove ✘ Win Lewis (OC)

⇾ w.c. 4.5k words ⇾ warning(s). canon x oc pairing, f!oc, angst, mention of child abuse, drinking, violence, blood, Billy's really bad at emotions :c, slight dubcon (if you squint) ⇾ a/n: Yay! Here we are at the beginning of the two part part two, which will bridge the gap between the events of season two and three and will be from Billy's pov.

[ masterlist ] [ win lewis bio ]

“We’re done.”

As soon as the words had left his mouth, he’d regretted them.  They’d hung in the air between him and Win, as if just waiting for him to take them back and beg her forgiveness.

But Billy Hargrove didn’t beg.

What was left of his pride and the sharp hot rage yet running through his veins wouldn’t let him.  Instead, he’d turned on his heel and walked out.

Billy was half way back to Hawkins when the weight of what he’d done finally sank in.  By the time he’d turned back to retrace his steps, Win was gone, the Byers’ house left empty.  It was then that he felt the telltale signs of panic truly begin to grip him.  He had no idea where Max had gone, when or even if she’d be back, and there was no way he could show his face back home without her.

Torn between waiting there for her and going after Win, hoping she’d headed back to her place, he settled for calling her, holding his breath as the line rang, and rang. 

And rang.

When Max returned with the Camaro, it was nearing midnight and Billy didn’t say a word to her as he climbed wearily into the driver’s seat.  Her threat was still fresh in his mind, but it wasn’t fear that held his tongue.  He was just too tired to fight any more and he still had his father’s inevitable wrath to look forward to.

Though at that point, Billy couldn’t think of any punishment worse than losing Win.  As much as he wanted to believe that by Monday she’d cool down and all would be well, he had a feeling it wouldn’t be that simple.

That night, as much as he hated himself for it, Billy Hargrove cried himself to sleep, the angry red welts left by his father’s belt stinging as much as the raw empty space in his chest where his heart had been.

Monday, the ride to school was a quiet one, and as soon as Billy parked, Max left the Camaro without a backwards glance.  Billy watched her skate toward the middle school with a scowl on his face.  While she’d gotten a fair share of their parents’ ire, it was he who’d shouldered the lion’s share.  

How was that for fair when the whole thing had been her fault in the first place?

Rolling his shoulders uncomfortably against the bruises that had started to form along his back and ribs, he slammed his door shut and strode toward the school entrance, several stray snowflakes beginning to fall, catching in his hair.

It seemed merely the fact that Win hadn’t rode to school with him that morning was enough to set the hall aflame with gossip, speculation as to the state of their relationship racing ahead of him.

“Is it true?  Did you and Win split?” Carol asked, meeting Billy by his locker, smacking her gum as she waited for his answer, her blue eyes alight with curiosity.

“No,” Billy replied gruffly, pulling his locker door open with more force than necessary.  “We just had a little spat.  That’s all,” he insisted, radiating disdain.

“Uh huh,” Carol mused doubtfully, blowing a pink bubble as she studied him, popping it before shrugging and walking off, no doubt going to spread the news to Vicki and Tina.

Billy grabbed his books and stalked off, trying to put on a normal facade.  His morning classes came and went, but he barely paid attention, too occupied with his own thoughts.

This was a completely new experience for him.  He hadn’t been lying when he’d told Win she’d been his first real girlfriend.  He’d never been serious about anyone before, so it never hurt when he eventually kicked them to the curb.  Billy had always been the one to love ‘em and leave ‘em, no one had ever broken up with him before, and he didn’t like it, this hollow ache in his chest that only grew worse as the day wore on.

Though he wasn’t hungry in the slightest, by the time the lunch bell rang, Billy made his way to the cafeteria, keeping his eyes peeled for Win, hoping to get her by herself and have a word.  However, as soon as she noticed him, she pushed her chair back from the table and practically fled the room, leaving her tray of food untouched.  The sight of her red rimmed eyes before she’d left made Billy’s heart drop into his stomach, but before he could even attempt to follow her, his path was blocked by Holly, her dark eyes flashing.

“Don’t even think about it, Billy boy,” she snapped, placing her hands on her hips.

“Oh, cool it, Hampton,” Billy sighed, placing an unlit cigarette between his lips.  “I just wanna talk to her.”

“Haven’t you done enough?” Holly exclaimed, not backing down, and the look on her face made Billy scowl.

“Look.  Just tell her I wanna talk to her–” he ground out, but Holly crossed her arms across her chest.

“Look,” she repeated back to him, a hard edge to her voice.  “Just stay away from Win, got it?”

When it became obvious she wasn’t going to let him past, Billy let out a frustrated huff, giving her one last look before turning around and striding away, heading for the bleachers.  

If Win wanted her spot back, then she was gunna have to take it from him.

––

After the day he’d had, Billy was actually looking forward to basketball practice.  It would be good to blow off some steam on the court and Lord knew he had some pent up aggression he needed to get out.

“Good job out there today, Hargrove,” the coach exclaimed as practice wound to an end, his teammates heading for the locker room to hit the showers.  “Wish I had four more of you on the court,” he chuckled, slapping Billy on the back.

“Thanks Coach,” Billy grunted, gritting his teeth against the sudden flare of pain before hissing out a breath as he joined the others in the locker room.

“Dude, did you see Steve?” one of the guys exclaimed loudly as Billy passed, heading to his locker.

“Yeah, his face is fucked up!  Wonder who did it to him.”

“I heard it was Billy,” another piped up, snickering.

Contemplating whether or not he should just shower at home, not exactly wanting to field any questions from his teammates about the bruises covering his back, Billy couldn’t help but smirk to himself, still pretty proud of knocking Steve down a few pegs.

“Speaking of Hargrove, I heard he and Win are splitsville,” one the guys hissed in a hushed tone.  “Maybe I can finally tap that,” he chuckled.

Billy’s smirk disappeared and he turned away from his locker, letting his eyes sweep the room as he pulled his sweat soaked cut-off over his head, discreetly searching for who’d spoken.

“You gotta be kidding.  After what he did to Steve?  Ain’t no way I’d cross Billy.”

The first voice snorted.  “Nah man, she’d be fuckin’ worth it–”

Following the voices, like a panther stalking its prey, Billy slipped a fresh shirt on as he rounded the corner to where Braydon Miller and Taylor Rupp were huddled together, his eyes narrowing as he sized them up.

“Wanna run that by me again, Miller?” Billy drawled, leaning against the low of lockers, cutting off their escape, a dangerous note to his low voice.

His teammates stiffened, realizing they’d been overheard, but Billy’s attention was all on Braydon, who cleared his throat awkwardly.  “It’s just… if you’re not together any more–” he trailed off under Billy’s glower.

“Anyone else want a turn with my girl?” he exclaimed, throwing his arms wide as he slowly turned to address the rest of the locker room.

No one spoke, several of his teammates dropping their gazes to their feet, and Billy nodded to himself.  “Now, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but Win is still very much mine,” he growled, staring at Miller for emphasis.  “So, if I find out about any of you making a pass at her, you’ll get worse than Harrington got.”

If possible, the locker room got even quieter and Billy let out a huff.  “Do you understand?” he asked.

When no one answered, his lips twisted in a scowl and he raised his voice, emphasizing each word.  “I said.  Do. You. Understand?” 

This time, a frantic chorus of voices replied, leaving Billy satisfied with their response.  “Good.  Tell your friends,” he said, shoving Miller back against his locker as he retreated, grabbing his things and leaving.

––

December 22nd, 1984

“Max, honey, stay still,” Susan chastised lightly.

“Ow!  Mom, that’s too tight!” Max whined in response, their voices floating down the hall from the bathroom.

Billy rolled his eyes, getting up to shut his door.  Standing in the doorway, he peered out, catching sight of Susan braiding a strand of Max’s fiery hair to pin back out of her face, helping her get ready for her dumb little middle school dance.

For a moment, Max turned, holding his stare and a wave of resentment washed over him.  Without a word, he stepped back into his room, shutting his door firmly.  He’d kept his word, he’d left her and her stupid friends alone, and where had it gotten him?  She was going out, having fun, and he was stuck there, alone.  With a pang of regret, he couldn’t help but wonder what Win was doing right then.  

He’d heard that Hawkins Lab had been shut down suddenly, and he wondered if she’d actually get to spend the holiday with her father.  He glanced across the room at the small gift wrapped box sitting on his dresser.  He’d gotten her a gift shortly after Thanksgiving, while they were still together, but now it seemed like it was going to go to waste and Neil’s words echoed in his head, taunting him.

Wonder how long it’ll last before you fuck it up.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Billy set his jaw and strode across the room, snatching the box.  Grabbing his keys, he set out before he could change his mind.  He’d given Win space, forced himself to pass her by at school and hold his tongue as if he didn’t have a million things he wanted to say to her, missing being able to just talk to her, but it was obvious to anyone with eyes that she was hurting, and for what?  

Obviously neither of them wanted this, so why were they still apart?  It was stupid and Billy was determined to make her see that.

Pulling up to her house, Billy turned off his headlights as he parked on the street–close enough to be able to see the front of the house, but far enough away that his car wouldn’t be spotted.  Glancing down at the box sitting in the passenger seat, he wet his lips before his gaze flicked back to the house.

The front curtains were open and he could easily see into the living room.  Win and her dad were decorating the tree, stringing a strand of multicoloured twinkle lights around its branches.  For a moment, Billy let himself imagine he was inside with them–Christmas music playing softly from the radio in the kitchen as It’s a Wonderful Life droned on in the background.

Win’s smile was radiant and he wanted to live in the fantasy a while longer, but the cold was beginning to creep into the car, chilling him, his breath misting in the air.  Opening his eyes he tried to imagine what would really happen if he walked up to the door–his heart in his hands.  And every scenario ended with him being turned away.

Turning the key in the ignition, Billy gave one last wistful look at the window and the warmth that seemed to radiate from within before pulling away from the curb, Win’s present forgotten in the passenger seat.

He couldn’t do it.  He couldn’t face the possibility of her rejection.

He’d give it a week, he decided.  Maybe by then he’d find the courage to try again.

––

December 31st, 1984

It was already dark by the time Billy left the house on Cherry St. and he turned up the radio as he turned onto the main drag through town.  He’d taken a little longer getting ready, meticulously styling his hair to look as effortless as possible before choosing an outfit specially designed to catch the eye.  Though he sped through town, he aimed to arrive fashionably late, wanting to make an entrance.

Heather Holloway’s New Year’s Eve party had been the only thing anyone had been talking about for the past few weeks and he had it on good authority that Win was gunna be there.

And after his cowardice at Christmas, he was determined to win her back.

Glancing up at his reflection in the rear view mirror, he flashed his best grin.  “Hey Win,” he said, speaking aloud to the empty car as if she were there.  “Hey Win.  Winnie,” he repeated, chuckling softly as he switched his inflection, practicing what he wanted to say when he saw her.

“You’re looking good.  Though, you always look good,” he drawled, biting his lip before winking at his reflection, radiating confidence.  “What’s that?  You miss me?” he asked, his expression shifting to calculated surprise.  “I know you do, babe.  And I… I miss you too,” he breathed, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.

“Why don’t we put this whole foolish mess behind us, huh?” he asked, catching his gaze in the mirror, his eyes softening.  “Come back to me and we’ll forget any of this ever happened,” he urged, letting just enough emotion tinge his voice while still keeping it smooth and warm.  “I mean, after all, we’re perfect together.”

Catching his tongue between his teeth, he grinned, pleased with his performance. 

“She won’t be able to resist,” he breathed, bringing the cigarette perched between his fingers to his lips.

By the time the party was over, Billy was confident she’d be his again.

The road in front of Heather’s house was nearly packed full by the time Billy arrived, but he found a spot further down the street and parked, lighting a fresh cigarette before kicking open the door to step out into the slush.

God, but he still couldn’t stand the snow.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he made his way to the house, the music blaring inside seeping out into the cold night air.

Tamping the snow from his boots as he stepped inside, Billy blew out a long stream of smoke, feeling his cheeks and fingers sting at the sudden change in temperature.  Pushing his way through the crowded living room, he went in search of Win, spying Tommy and Carol in the corner with Tina.

Tina noticed him looking her way and smiled, waving to him.  He acknowledged her, but didn’t head over, still searching for Win’s dark rooted platinum bob amongst the crowd.  When he finally spotted her, his stomach twisted, white hot jealousy racing through his veins at the sight of her standing next to Eddie “the freak” Munson, one arm casually slung around her petite shoulders.

It had barely been a month since they’d split, she wouldn’t have moved on that quickly.  She couldn’t’ve.  Especially not with someone like him.

Win seemed to feel his gaze on her and turned, her doll-like eyes widening when they landed on him.  For a moment, she looked torn, her gaze holding his before Tommy clapped a hand on his shoulder, a smug grin on his freckled face as he joined Billy, and she quickly looked away again, slipping past Eddie to go get another drink.

“I heard she’s been hanging out with Munson and his lame band, and Nancy Wheeler’s bitchy cousin,” Tommy exclaimed, watching Billy from the corner of his eye, as if just waiting for a reaction.

Billy’s first instinct was to stride over there and introduce Munson to his fist, but something deep inside tugged at him—a tiny voice that sounded suspiciously like Win’s—telling him that that would only dig his grave deeper.

Though his jaw flexed and his hands balled into fists, Billy kept his expression as flat as he could, shrugging Tommy’s hand off his shoulder as he pushed into the crowd, away from Munson, instead following Win to the kitchen.  He found her by the counter, a half empty bottle of whiskey in her hand, the mouth of the bottle just leaving her pink lips, and he couldn’t help but grin at the way her gaze trailed over him, her face flushing.

He clearly still had an effect on her.

“What’re you doing here?” she asked, the defiance in her voice mostly for show.

Billy shrugged, stepping closer, his fingers wrapping around the bottle in her hand.  “It’s a free country,” he said, wetting his lips as he plucked the bottle from her hand, bringing it to his mouth and taking a swig, the amber liquid warming him as it burned down his throat.

Win quickly tore her eyes away when he handed her back the bottle, his gaze focused on her.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

She snorted.  “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Bullshit–” Billy scoffed, leaning against the counter, boxing her in.  “I think you wanted to see me,” he drawled.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she exclaimed, though her body language told a different story and for a moment Billy let his mask drop.

“I’ve missed you,” he murmured softly and Win’s eyes snapped back to his face, surprise flitting across her features.

“I’ve… missed you too,” she admitted in a small voice, her hand involuntarily clutching at his jacket as Billy took a chance and tucked her hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering at the curve of her jaw.

“Yeah?” he breathed, leaning in closer, surprised at just how easy it had been to lure her back in.

“Mhmm,” she hummed, her breath hitching as his lips hovered just out of reach.

Billy grinned, bridging the remaining distance between them, his mouth pressing to hers, gentle at first, testing the waters.  When she hesitantly kissed him back, he dropped all pretense of holding back, his hand as her cheek slipping into her hair to cradle the back of her head as his tongue swiped against the seam of her lips.

With a soft moan, she opened her mouth to him, her tongue meeting his.  She tasted like whiskey and nicotine and Billy’s head swam while his heart hammered in his chest.  If he took Win’s hand and pressed it over his heart, she’d probably be able to feel it.

Suddenly, however, she tensed, pulling back abruptly, her hand against his chest the only thing stopping him from chasing her retreating lips and Billy’s eyes snapped open, his brows furrowing.

“Win, what–?”

“I can’t,” she choked out, squeezing her eyes shut as a conflicted expression twisted her face.  “I can’t do this,” she repeated, her voice growing firmer.

“Why the hell not?”

The words were out of Billy’s mouth before he could stop them, knowing the gruff demand would surely spur Win to retaliate, her defenses slamming securely back in place.

Hating that he was right, Billy grimaced as she pushed him back, her stormy eyes flashing.

“Is it cause of that freakshow you came here with?” he spat, his anger boiling over, getting the better of him.

“What?” Win snapped, her gaze like daggers.

“Munson.  You sleeping with him?”  he demanded, unable to back down now and Win scoffed, incredulous.

“No, it’s not like that,” she exclaimed, but Billy rolled his eyes, a humourless grin stretching his face as he barked a hollow laugh.

“C’mon Win, don’t fuckin’ lie to me.”

“I haven’t slept with anyone since you,” she insisted levelly, hurt flickering in her eyes.  “Have you?” she snapped instead, wordlessly pleading with him to deny it.

Billy took a step closer, his breath ghosting across her face as he loomed over her.  “The only person I’ve even been able to even think about these past weeks, is you.  So, no.”

Win scoffed, turning her face away, blinking back the dampness that caught in her lashes as she crossed her arms over her chest.  “If you truly want me back, Billy, you need to prove you’ve changed,” she whispered, making herself meet his gaze.

“Do better.”

Without another word, she pushed past him, leaving him to contemplate what she’d said.

Growling, Billy snatched the bottle of whiskey she’d left behind and tossed it back, downing the rest of the amber liquid in several long swallows.

Do better?  What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Grabbing a quarter full bottle of vodka from the counter, Billy skulked back out to the living room, joining Tommy and the others.  His mood effectively soured, he sullenly watched the party from his spot against the wall, glowering as every so often he took a swig from the bottle in his hand.  Once he’d polished off the vodka, he’d grown bored, pushing off the wall to head to the keg across the room, scowling when he realized Tina had followed him over.

“Hey Billy,” she chirped, sidling up next to him as he grabbed an empty cup, filling it from the spigot, careful not to get too much foam.

“Tina,” he grunted in response, bringing the cup to his lips.

“Wanna pour me one?” she asked, holding her cup out to him.

He rolled his eyes, but did so anyway, ignoring the way she batted her eyelashes up at him.

“I heard about you and Win splitting,” she said, leaning in closer.  “Mondo bummer,” she murmured, though she didn’t sound very broken up about it.

Billy stared at her flatly, not in the mood for her games.  “Excuse me,” he muttered, stepping around her and stumbling back out into the crowd, his vision swimming slightly.  If Tina said something else, he didn’t hear it.

Glancing down at his watch, he realized it was nearly midnight and the urge to find Win again was growing stronger.  Letting his gaze sweep the room, he finally spotted her dancing with Beck, and though there was a smile curling her lips, it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Despite the distraction, she was hurting.

Billy didn’t sense Tommy coming up beside him until he spoke, his voice slurring slightly.

“Dude, give it a rest already,” he said, bringing his drink to his lips.  “Sure Win’s hot an’ all, but there’s loads of other hot girls.  Girls that would willingly throw themselves at your feet.  You could be swimming in pussy,” he exclaimed, his sweeping gesture taking in the room.

Billy’s expression darkened, but he didn’t speak, and Tommy barrelled on.  “Face it, Billy, she ain’t comin’ back, and you know what, I’m gunna tell you somethin’.  You should be glad, because your little girlfriend?  She was a bitch,” he exclaimed.

The shit eating grin on his face faltered when Billy turned suddenly, grabbing shirt, his eyes flashing danger.  

“You wanna run that by me again?” he asked, his voice like a taut spring and the people around them went quiet, turning to watch.

Tommy’s eyes lit up in amusement, his grin returning wider as he held Billy’s fierce glare.  “Thought there were plenty of bitches in the sea, Hargrove?  Isn’t that what you told Harrington?” he taunted, brushing out of Billy’s grasp.

There was a beat where Billy merely gaped at him, seething, and Tommy began to laugh, making the mistake of turning his back on him.  He was still laughing when Billy caught his shoulder, spinning him back around, his fist connecting with Tommy’s stupid face.

The blow staunched Tommy’s laughter, wiping the amusement from his face, and he swung right back, missing Billy by an inch.  Taking the opening, Billy’s fist found Tommy’s nose, bloodying his knuckles.

“Fuck you, Hagan!” he growled, feeling hands on his jacket pulling him back.

“Fuck you Hargrove!” Tommy countered, blood streaming down his chin.

Taking advantage of Billy’s momentary distraction, Tommy threw a right hook, his fist catching Billy’s left brow before he was hauled back, the two pulled apart.  With a huff, Billy shook the hands off him, tugging at his jacket and wiping the blood from his brow before it could run into his eye.

As he straightened he found Win watching him, disappointment etched in her gaze before she turned away, following Eddie and Beck toward the door.

“Win, wait!”

Billy’s feet moved before his thoughts could catch up and he stumbled out the door after her, nearly losing his footing in the snow outside before he caught up to her, grabbing her arm to haul her back.  Without a word, he pulled her into his arms, his mouth colliding with hers in a searing, desperate kiss.

“Billy, no!” Win exclaimed, pushing him away, her voice cracking.  

“No, you know you want this,” he growled, his grasp on her arms tightening, not letting her pull away, trying to kiss her again.

“I said no, Billy!” she repeated, the sudden crack of her palm across his face leaving him stunned.

Fighting the urge to press his hand to his stinging cheek, his hands fell to his sides, balling into fists as a flash of heat washed through him–embarrassment and inappropriate arousal quickly tamped down as anger took its place.

“Fuck you, Win.”  His voice was level though he fought to keep it that way, his hurt and anger swelling, like an uncontrollable wave.  “You left me, just like she did.”

Win’s eyes widened at his words and she flinched as if he’d been the one to slap her.

“That’s not fair,” she breathed, her voice wavering.

“But it’s the truth,” Billy spat, the wave threatening to pull him out to sea.  “You left me just when I needed you the most!”

Win shook her head, tears welling in her eyes.  “Don’t compare me to her!  She left because of someone else’s actions.  I left because of yours.”

She swallowed, lifting her chin, the unshed tears sparkling in her lashes.

“The one wasn’t your fault.  This was.”

Before Billy could come up with a response, Win turned away, climbing into Munson’s van as Beck asked her if she was alright.

Billy’s breath misted in the air as it left his parted lips.  It wasn’t until the van pulled away that Billy realized people were staring and he felt bile rise in his throat at the humiliation.

Win’s slap had been the final death knell for whatever hope he’d had left that she’d come back to him.

“The fuck are you looking at?” he barked, scattering the remainder of the watchers.

As he lit a cigarette with shaking fingers, he heard the partygoers inside counting down the last seconds to midnight, but he was already heading to his car.

Tomorrow he’d keep up appearances, tonight he just wanted to be alone.

⇾ taglist. @b1tchygh0sts @heartbreak-sandwich @santacarlahorrorshow @super-unpredictable98 @vampyreddiemunson @alwaysstuckinsecondgear @elliethesuperfruitlover

[sun-god-appollo]

Pour Some Sugar on Me | Billy Hargrove x Female!Reader

You can also find more of this works on my ao3

—————————————————————————

“Dammit!” I groaned as I glanced at the time on my car radio. I was late, so excruciatingly late.

Screeching into the Hawkins High School parking lot, I garnered a few dirty looks. From the blaring radio, to the roar of my Trans Am as I damn near drifted around the corner, it was still glaringly obvious that I was still the black sheep of Hawkins. 

I slowed as I neared my parking spot and let out an exasperated sigh as I noticed a blue Camaro sitting in my spot. I sucked my teeth in annoyance as I pulled into the empty spot next to it before cutting the engine, the radio going silent. Stepping out of my black Pontiac, I looked up at the boy leaning against the hood of the Camaro with a grimace on my face. The boy grinned at me, taking a long drag out of his lit cigarette before holding it in his hand.

“Nice ride.”

“That’s my spot,” I spat, my voice dripping in venom as I strode past him, “Get out of it tomorrow if you know what’s good for you.”

“Nah,” he takes another drag before kicking the cigarette out in the dirt. The male pushes off the bonnet of his car and starts to walk with me.

“Is that a Trans Am? She’s hot.”

I roll my eyes and stop to face him, he almost bumps into me at the suddenness of my action. 

Raising an eyebrow I say, “It is. You new?”

“Yep, just landed in this shithole of a town yesterday,” he grins and leans towards me, “What’s your name, doll?”

I scoff, “In your dreams.”

“Name’s Billy.”

“I don’t care,” I turn on my heel and stride off to class, “Just be out of my spot tomorrow.” 

————

I heave out a sigh as I meander my way out to the parking lot, hoards of other students taking a similar journey. Once reaching the Trans Am, I glance at the sandy-blonde boy perched, yet again, on the hood of his Camaro - only this time he’s flanked by two nitwits.

“Y/N, good to see you’re still as square as ever,” Carol says in an almost sing-song voice, clearly proud of the half-baked insult she’d come up with.

Tommy pushes past her and moves a little too close to me for my liking, “You really are a freak, aren’t you Y/L/N?”

I roll my eyes and scoff, “Tommy, Carol, it’s always so lovely talking with you.”

Not waiting for another dimwitted remark, I get into my car and slam the door abruptly. I turn the key to my car, engine roaring to life and radio blasting. I slam it in reverse and smirk, making eye contact with the blue-eyed boy who was now giving me a sultry grin. It was obvious what Billy’s type was and that he was bad news, but it was hard not to admit: he was hot. However, I would not be partaking in becoming another notch on his belt. His tongue darted across his lips before dragging his teeth across his bottom lip with a smirk. I gave him a wink before speeding off to get the hell home.

The next morning I got up early. There was no way I’d lose my spot to Hawkin’s new Ladies Man. I pull on my Docs before rushing out to my car, keys jingling in my hand.

I pull into the Hawkins High parking lot - slightly slower than yesterday, but music still playing just as loud. My good mood quickly fades as I see the same blue Camaro with smug boy duo sitting in my spot. I groan, slapping my steering wheel as I pull into the spot I parked in the previous day.

“Didn’t I tell you that you needed to be out of this spot?”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t resist riling you up again,” Billy says with a smug grin.

I huff and grab my bag, storming off towards my first class.

“We should hang out sometime,”

I scoff and call over my shoulder, “Not gonna happen.”

———

Two weeks had gone by without a hitch and, better yet, no more encounters with the new Ladies Man of Hawkins. However, he was all anyone could seem to talk about, girls and boys alike. The guys talked about how cool he was and the girls talked about all the things they would do to him. It was also hard not to hear about Billy Hargrove’s quickly formed reputation: chewing up and spitting out a new girl every day.

I sighed and rifled through my locker when I heard a conversation behind me.

“Are you going to Tammy’s party tonight? It’s going to be a blast!” One girl chimed.

“Of course! There’s no way I’m missing Billy and that ass!” Another girl responded.

I rolled my eyes to myself and slammed the door to my locker. I go to move away from my locker when I catch myself before bumping into someone - that someone holding a similar orange paper the two girls from earlier had been clutching on to for dear life.

The person in front of me held the paper out to me, “You should come.”

Looking up, I realised who it was, “Billy, I’m not going to that stupid party.”

“C’mon! It’ll give me a chance to get to know you better, sweetheart.”

I couldn’t deny it, that made my heart flutter and I was sure Billy could see the blush on my face from the smirk he was giving me. He was so close to me that the mix of his cologne and cigarettes filled my senses. I snatch the flyer out of his hand and roll my eyes before walking off to the cafeteria, proud smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

————

What the hell was I doing? I thought to myself as I threw yet another dud outfit on the floor of my room. Was I actually going to be like every other girl at school and get all giddy about this stupid party? There was no way Billy Hargrove would think of anything but using me and dumping me on my ass as soon as he was done with me before moving onto the next person. I couldn’t let myself become another girl he’d triumphed.

I let out a sigh of frustration and opted for my signature jeans, band t-shirt and docs before pulling my hair up into a loose ponytail. Who was I trying to impress? No one.

Quickly getting into my car, I turn the key and blast some Metallica as I make the excruciating drive to Tammy’s party.

It was only 9pm, but there were already drunk teenagers everywhere as I pulled up into a free spot on the side of the road. Pocketing my keys, I pull my jacket around me and trudge my way towards Tammy’s house. I garnered a few dirty looks from boys and girls alike, along with a few sneers of: “What the hell is she doing here?”

I grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge and opened one before taking a swig. Hearing a commotion coming from outside, I followed the sound.

The chanting got louder as I stepped into the backyard. From the scene in front of me, it was obvious they were trying to beat Steve “The Hair” Harrington’s Keg King record from last year. I situated myself off to the side to watch and chuckled at the two idiots as the people around them cheered louder, one name becoming clearer than anything else.

“Billy! Billy! Billy!”

Billy frickin’ Hargrove was challenging King Harrington. A ballsy move, but I’ll give it to him. He had guts.

Cheers erupted as he finished off the keg, not soon after spraying people around him with the last mouthful of beer. It was hard not to admire it, the way his shirt fell open slightly and the sheen of sweat mixed with beer made his chest glow was a sight to behold. As if hearing my thoughts, he made eye contact with me and I froze. Billy grinned and pushed past everyone - who were still congratulating him - and made his way towards me, snatching a beer from someone’s hand.

“Didn’t think you’d make it, Doll,” Billy said with a boyish grin on his face. It was obvious he’d been drinking for a while.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” I retorted.

Billy leaned in close, whispering into my ear, “Well, I for one, am really glad you came.”

This made me blush redder than a tomato and I shifted in my spot nervously. God, I wished my heart would stop beating so fast. Billy leaned back to look into my eyes, his face still close to mine, and smiled an almost genuine smile. My eyes flicked between his gorgeous blue eyes and his incredibly full, pink lips before I had to force myself to peel my eyes off of him.

“Wanna dance with me?” He slurred slightly before taking a swig of his beer.

I scoffed and looked away to hide my blush, “Sure, whatever.”

Billy took my hand gently in his and tugged me toward the makeshift dance floor in the middle of Tammy’s living room. I keep my eyes trained to the floor to avoid the daggers being glared my way. Billy tosses his now empty beer bottle and wraps an arm around my waist, tugging me toward him. He’s so close I can feel his breath on my face, the scent of beer and his signature smell of cologne and cigarettes surrounding me. I awkwardly grasp onto his shoulders and finally look up at him, regretting the choice as soon as I do. His pupils are dilated and he’s gazing down at me like I’m helpless prey caught in a corner and he’s the predator here to eat me whole.

I clear my throat and glanced back down at my feet, shuffling awkwardly to the loud, god awful music that is playing.

“Hey, eyes up here, Doll,” Billy cuts the silence between us and uses his left hand to clasp under my chin, lifting my face back up to look into my eyes.

“This is so stupid, everyone is looking.”

“So, let them look,” he grins, “Where’s that tenacious girl I’ve heard so much about?”

He tucks a stray lock of hair behind my ear and leans close to me, our lips just inches away from each other, “I’ve heard so much about this fiery girl that drives a black Pontiac. I’ve got to say, I’m curious.”

“Shut up, you’re just saying that to get in my pants.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” he lingers, obviously wanting to close the distance between us but decides against it.

A comfortable silence washes over us and we stay in the living room for a while before deciding to grab some more beer and head back outside. Billy pulls out a cigarette and lights it before taking a drag and offering it to me. I take it off him and inhale the bitter smoke, holding it, and letting it stream out of my lips.

“That was hot,” Billy smirks, his words sounding more slurred by the minute.

“Shut up, you’re drunk.”

He leans close to me, tucking his face into my neck and nuzzling at the spot. I shiver and nudge him off of me.

“It’s getting late, everyone is starting to head off. I’ll drive you home if you like?”

His eyes open wide and he curses, “Shit, my old man is gonna kill me.”

He drawls out a few more slurred sentences, begging me not to take him home and that I didn’t understand, his dad would literally kill him. I heave out a sigh and stand up, holding a hand out to him.

“This better not be some sick idea of getting me to sleep with you, Hargrove,” I tug him up and half-carry-half-drag him to my Pontiac, “You can crash at mine. My folks won’t mind.”

I prop Billy on the side of my car before fumbling for my keys and unlocking the passenger-side door. I help Billy into the seat, clipping the seatbelt on for him and earning a smug remark. Jumping into the driver's seat, I quickly fire up the Trans Am and peel away from the party.

Once I pull into my driveway, I kill the engine and race over to the passenger side to retrieve the drunken, blue-eyed male. If I thought getting him in to my car was a struggle, nothing could’ve prepared me for the task of dragging a drunk Billy Hargrove up the stairs of my house and to my bedroom. Why was I dragging him to my bedroom? Good question. One would think this was an excellent way to invite unwanted activities. But the risk was better than having a near blackout Billy downstairs with the freedom to roam my childhood home at 2am.

I ease him into my bed before taking his boots off and pulling the covers over him. I quickly kick off my own boots and clamber on to my bed next to him, deciding to stay on top of the covers. Letting out a sigh, I glance over at him.

“Thanks,” he murmurs, a soft tone in his voice. It was evident that having to face his father was far worse than just a dad getting pissed at a drunken teenage son.

“Don’t mention it,” I roll over, facing my back to him and pray for my heart to stop beating so fast and for sleep to quickly take hold of me

[heartbreak-sandwich]

CHAPTER THREE: MARLBORO REDS

NSWF, 18 +, MINORS DNI

Part One | Part Two in case you need to catch up 💕

Chapter Three is SFW content (though later there WILL be NSFW content, therefore, the 18+ label).

A/N: Here is PART THREE! We're actually ramping up to the story now, starting to build that sweet, sweet tension. Thank you to those of you who have been reading these so far and giving me feedback. I really appreciate your time, and I'm so excited to keep writing! As usual, check the tags for hints on what's to come, and I LOVE U SO INCREDIBLY MUCH, THANK U FOR BEING HERE.

The cash register drawer groaned as you shoved it into place and locked it. You turned around and walked the row of large windows, methodically pulling on the long strings to close each set of blinds as you made your way to the front of the shop. The last pull silenced the buzzing of the OPEN sign, and you gave the door a hard jostle to make sure it was locked up tight.

“Shit.” Glancing at the wall clock, you realized if you didn’t quicken your pace, you were going to be late for soundcheck at The Hideout. “Not three times in one day. Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you muttered to yourself, heels clacking rapidly on the vinyl flooring as you hurried to the break room to gather your things and jet out the back door. Plunging a hand into your bag, you felt around in the dark for your pack of Marlboros. “I swear they were in here. What the –” Conceding to the reality that you’d just have to pick up another pack, you began a half run through the alley to get to the corner store. It was close enough to The Hideout, and you reasoned that if you grabbed a bag of peanut M&Ms as an offering of apology to Eddie for your tardiness, he would likely let you off the hook for missing another sound check.

Rounding the corner out of the alley, it was a straight shot across the street and through the parking lot to the corner store. You were still half running and almost out of breath when you wrenched the door open and made a B-line for the peanut M&Ms. You were so determined to complete your mission that you didn’t even notice the blue Camaro you strode right past on your way in. You snagged the bag of M&Ms and a packet of Pop Rocks to sweeten the deal just in case and took your place in the long line to the register. You knew you were late, but you couldn’t figure out how late because there didn’t seem to be a clock anywhere in sight.

“Excuse me,” you said tapping the denim clad shoulder of the person in front of you. “Do you happen to have the time?”

“Sure,” the man sighed, checking his wristwatch. “It’s 8:57,” he relayed without turning around.

“Thank you,” you replied glumly, knowing that sound check was almost over, and Eddie would be infinitely more annoyed that you wouldn’t be there to play the first song. Jeff could sing some of the set list, so they might have to rearrange, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. You rummaged through your bag once more, trying to make sure you at least had a lighter or some matches so you wouldn’t have to make another desperate trip back here later. Your fingertips found the cool metal of your lighter at the bottom of your bag, and as you brought it to the surface, it slipped right out of your hand, clattering to the floor. The man with the watch bent down and retrieved your lighter from its landing spot, and you instantly recognized him. Billy Fucking Hargrove.

“You should keep a tighter hold on this. It’s a nice one,” he said with a half smile, holding your Kreisler lighter out for you to take back.

“Yeah. Butter fingers,” you replied with a nervous laugh. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” For the first time you could recall, Billy was unusually quiet. You couldn’t feel the heat of arrogance radiating off of him like usual, and he wasn’t jutting his chin up in an attempt to signal masculine dominance. Something was off. You also noticed his eyes were bloodshot, and his lips were slightly puffy. Had he been crying?

“So, uh,” you stammered awkwardly. “Come here often?” You offered the stupid question while avoiding eye contact, and Billy’s thousand-yard stare of surprise was uncontestable. He paused trying to correct his facial expression and let out a small chuckle.

“I guess so. Only as often as I have to.” He shuffled his feet where he stood and looked around the room, desperately searching his mind for conversation prompts. You could see the lightbulb go off in his head in real time. “You work at that record store downtown, right? Trax?”

“Yeah, I do,” you answered, a genuine smile forming on your lips. Billy Hargrove had remembered something about you, and you weren’t sure why that made you feel a bit warm inside.

“It’s a cool place. I’ve seen you in there before stocking shelves and pushing that big cart around. Seems like quite the workout,” he joked. His discomfort was slowly melting away, but you could still sense that he wasn’t at home in himself.

“Yeah, that’s me,” you confirmed. “The best part is the thirty percent discount though. Thirty percent on new selections and fifty on any overstock.”

“That’s very generous.” Billy was smiling now, too. “I’m still looking for a copy of the new Ratt album. Everywhere’s been sold out for months”

“Oh, Invasion of Your Privacy?”

“That’s the one.”

“Yeah, that one flies off the shelves every time we get more in. We just got a new shipment today though. I can set one aside for you…you know, if you want,” you offered somewhat hesitantly. You couldn’t let yourself forget this was Billy you were talking to, and his reputation still preceded him.

“That’s quite the offer,” he said, looking down to his feet, that smile still dancing at the corners of his mouth. “I can come pick it up tomorrow if you’ll be there.” His eyes snapped back up to yours, and you felt butterflies rise in your stomach.

“I’ll be there. Just go to the register, and tell whoever’s working the counter your name and that you have a layaway. I’ll make sure to get it ready for you first thing in the morning.” Billy nodded slowly, taking in your instructions.

“Thanks. It’s really cool of you to do that. I’ll definitely owe you one.”

“Anytime.” You smiled at him again, and you made a mental note to obey your first alarm tomorrow morning so you had time to follow through with your promise.

It was Billy’s turn in line, and you eavesdropped as he asked the cashier for a pack of Marlboro Reds. You couldn’t help but note that as a coincidence, and you stifled the little voice in your head that tried to tell you it might have been some taste of fate – there were probably ten million other people in the world who smoked Marb Reds besides you and Billy Fucking Hargrove.

“See you tomorrow.” Billy’s husky voice broke you out of your inner monologue. He gave you a small nod as he made his way toward the door. You stepped up to the counter to make your purchase as you tried not to let your mind wander.

Pushing the door open, you jumped as the roar of a blue Camaro just a few feet away startled you.

“Sorry about that,” Billy’s raised voice sounded from the open window of the driver’s seat. Did he just apologize for the sound of his car? What the hell was happening?

“No worries,” you reassured, smiling through your nervousness.

“Where are you headed? If you need a ride somewhere, maybe we can call that repayment for the layaway album.” It was a kind offer, and you’d almost wished your destination was further away so you could take him up on it.

“I’m just going right next door, actually.”

“To the dive bar?” Billy furrowed his brows in confusion. For a second, he thought you were making up a story just to avoid spending a few more minutes with him.

“To The Hideout,” you replied, trying not to let the edge catch your voice too much. “Our band plays shows there every Tuesday. I was late about ten minutes ago, so I really have to run.”

“You’re in a band?” Billy didn’t even try to hide his intrigue. “What kind of music do you guys play?”

“Eddie calls it progressive metal,” you answered. You knew you needed to get moving, but something about the depth of his eyes and the way they gripped you from the inside kept your feet firmly rooted in the concrete.

“Progressive metal,” he repeated slowly. “Interesting.” He looked ahead through his windshield and then down at his watch. “I’m not busy. I guess I might as well go see what you’re all about,” he finally said with a cheeky smile.

“I mean, if you want to. Everyone’s welcome.” You didn’t know what else to say. Was this some kind of prank? You knew Billy was into metal from the songs you couldn’t help but overhear blaring from his car every time he would swerve into the Hawkins High parking lot. Maybe he was genuinely curious about your band, or maybe he just needed an escape for the time being. Either way, you didn’t have time to argue with him, and Corroded Coffin could always use another fan.

Billy turned off the Camaro’s engine, exited the driver’s side, and slammed the door shut, checking the handle to make sure it was locked. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his form fitting jeans. “Lead the way,” he said with a smirk. His confidence had seemingly returned, and your chest tightened at the thought of what Eddie and the others would say when they saw you walk into the Hideout fifteen minutes late accompanied by Billy Hargrove. You didn’t have time to anticipate whatever the situation might be, so you walked briskly alongside him in silence toward the front door of The Hideout, praying that the M&Ms and Pop Rocks would be enough to appease Eddie, but knowing in your heart of hearts that it definitely wasn’t.

[purefandomonium]

Mysterious New Member-Ch 14

Diana strode through the Hub, now empty after the others dispersed. She assumed that at least Spinner was likely to be in the game room and headed there.

She was not expecting to run into Tezz so soon. They almost rammed into each other, and although he was the one to round the corner so abruptly, he still looked disgruntled at the near collision. Diana shared his sentiment, though it had more to do with the fact she was still angry about what he'd done to her car.

"Of all the people to run into right now," she let out, intending for him to hear.

Tezz straightened himself up and glowered at her. "I see you are still in a nasty mood."

"I wonder why," she replied, matching his glare.

Tezz sighed and let his shoulders drop. "If it makes you feel any better, I apologize about examining your car without your permission." He'd told Vert he'd say as much, but even still, he felt annoyed at having to do it. If she didn't want them questioning her then she should have been more forthcoming.

Diana couldn't believe her ears. Not only was that the sorriest excuse for an apology she'd ever heard, but the way he said it implied that she was the one with the problem here. So many rude remarks were going through her mind, but she ignored them all in favor of keeping a decent mood for the day.

Sending him a fake smile he likely didn't recognize, she said, "Sure you do." She then drifted past him, ignoring the look he was sure to be giving her. She had other things to do than deal with him and his attitude right now.

She reached the game room without further incident and was surprised to see it devoid of the Cortez brothers. Agura told her they were out on the test track, trying out some new modifications to the Buster.

Diana saw the way Vert looked at her and couldn't have left fast enough. She emerged from the Hub just in time to catch the Buster skidding to a halt.

"That was awesome!" Spinner exclaimed, jumping out of the hatch. "Now we're tough and fast!"

"Told you it would work, big bro," came Sherman as he hit the ground. "Now if only I could get more than a single boost out of it before it needed to recharge…"

"What are you guys testing?" She hoped the smile she wore looked more genuine than it felt. She was still so wary around the others, always feeling like they were being careful of her. Sherman didn't look apprehensive, but she felt like he was. She hadn't interacted enough with Spinner to really be able to tell, but something—more than likely her nerves—told her he felt the same. She pushed it aside for now.

"Sherman hooked up a new booster to the Buster. We just went from zero to freaking ninety in like, four seconds flat!"

"Actually, it was three-point-seven seconds," Sherman corrected with a grin.

Diana whistled in appreciation. "With that kinda speed right off the bat, you could barrel through half an army of bots."

"Oh man, now that would rock. Hey, Sherm, think we could bump it up to a hundred?"

"Nah, the output would be too much for it to handle." As he said it, he looked thoughtful. It was likely he was contemplating it.

Diana was already running out of conversation. Should she ask them to help her practice more? Do a few laps herself? Maybe she was imposing on their quality time and the two brothers were hoping she'd leave soon. The more she thought about it, the more awkward she felt.

"Hey, I have an idea," Spinner said suddenly. "Why don't we race each other?"

"I mean, yeah sure, okay," Diana said to his mischievous grin.

Spinner was already shaking his head. "I don't mean on the test track. I mean out in the Flats. We can do a little relay race. First one to the rock wall and back wins."

"Now that's something I can't pass up. Think you stand a chance in that thing?"

"Bet you can't do it in the Camaro."

They fell silent.

Sherman looked between his brother and Diana, wondering if she'd caught on to what Spinner was clearly trying to do. Spinner was, admittedly, keeping up a strong poker face despite the situation. And Diana…

For a second it looked like she'd call them out on their game and bail. There a was a moment when Sherman was sure she'd throw a punch at Spinner for the suggestion.

But then her face split into a grin and she said, "You're on."

A few minutes later saw them at their impromptu starting line, engines revving. The Buster, despite its size and power, was put to shame by the burble of the Camaro's exhaust note. Only time would tell if its speed would be called into question too.

"Ready?" Spinner asked over their watch's radio.

"Get set," Diana said back, giving a good rev to the supercharged V8.

"Go!"

Both cars took off, leaving a massive cloud of dust in their wake. The Buster took the lead off the line, but only because Sherman had used the booster. Once it wore off, the Camaro began closing the distance at an alarming rate.

As it approached the Buster, Spinner leaned over to see what Sherman was doing on the dash computer. "Well? Anything weird pop up?"

"Not so far, bro." He gave the tank more gas but the jet black Camaro was still keeping pace. Within several intense seconds they were almost neck-and-neck; the Buster mere inches ahead. Sherman noted the speed at which they were approaching the rock face and started decelerating, intending to do a one-eighty and gun it before Diana could. He was betting on the booster being recharged by the time they were halfway back, that way she wouldn't have time to catch up and would really have to push the engine. If he could get some readings off the car, maybe he could use them to theorize a pattern.

They were yards away from the checkpoint when Diana took advantage of the Buster's shed speed. She dropped a couple gears, spun the tail out, whipped past their front end and was flying back towards the base by the time they'd regained traction from their own turnaround.

"Wow, she is fast!" Spinner said in awe.

Diana grinned at the blue six-wheeler in her rearview. Futuristic alien cars were nice and all, but nothing put a smile on her face quite like the Chevy. She let out a whoop as she floored it and made tracks back to base.

They were several yards away from her when Sherman activated the booster again. The Buster lurched and closed the distance in seconds.

Diana saw them coming in hot and flipped a switch below the radio. The rpms went well above red line as the Camaro's engine roared. She was pushed back into her seat as the car rocketed through the desert, the Buster becoming nothing more than a distant memory.

Sherman could only watch as Diana left them in the dust; he eased off the gas and came to a gentle stop as the Camaro skidded to a halt. He gave a final glance at his screens before nodding to Spinner and getting out.

"That was so not fair!" the elder Cortez cried as he hopped out of the Buster. "You can't just go all Fast and Furious on us out of nowhere like that."

"You mean it's only fair when you do it?" She stepped out into the sun, grin still plastered to her face and heart racing. "I recall you being awfully heavy-handed with your own turbo."

"Yeah, well, it's different when we do it. At least you knew about it."

Sherman and Diana rolled their eyes at Spinner's mock-pout.

"I gotta hand it to you," Sherman began. "You really know how to drive. That one-eighty you pulled back there was flawless!"

Her cheeks grew hot and she hoped they didn't notice. Rubbing her elbow, she said, "Yeah, well, practice makes perfect. You don't grow up with a car-loving dad and not know how to drive."

Sherman nodded. "Well, I think it's pretty obvious I've got some work to do on that booster. Can't have a classic beating me in a race. C'mon, Spin, I'm gonna need your help calibrating."

"Guess this means we're getting from zero to a hundred in four seconds flat?" he asked as Sherman climbed back into the driver's seat.

"A hundred? I bet if I beef up the coils I could get it even faster." To Diana, he added, "We'll be in the shop if you need us."

"Alright. I'll be out here running laps." She waved them off and strode back to the Camaro.

"You get anything, bro?" Spinner asked once they were back in the Hub.

"Oh, I got plenty, Spin." He scanned through the data as he parked the Buster. "With this info I bet we could figure out how her car's putting out so much energy. That was a good call back there. You even kept a straight face."

Spinner rubbed his hands together with a sinister chuckle. "Oh, practice makes perfect alright."

They got out and before Sherman could question him there was a loud pop followed by Stanford shouting in the distance. The Brit came rushing in and they had to contain their laughter.

Stanford was covered head to toe in pink, glittery goo. He was still struggling to wipe it off his face when he ran over.

"I've been ambushed!" The purple of his Shock Suit was barely visible and he was certain he'd be rinsing glitter out of his hair for days. "What kind of monster did this?!" He cleared away the goo and locked eyes with Spinner before stomping towards him. "Don't think you're getting away with this, you heathen!"

Spinner brought his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Hey, don't look at me! That's a brilliant prank and all but glitter is way too much work. And rigging it to shoot in your face with slime too? Nuh uh. One wrong move and it's pretty in pink for days. I'm more of an old-fashioned prankster myself."

Stanford looked confounded. His eyes flicked from one Cortez to the other. "But… But if it wasn't you then… Who was it?"

"Someone with some serious ninja stealth skills, obviously. Zoom was pretty upset about you embarrassing him in front of Grace, after all."

"That traitorous scum. I should've known he'd do something like this." He stormed off to go have a few choice words with the scout.

Sherman stood in shock, having witnessed the whole thing and still not quite believing it. He gave a long-suffering sigh at Spinner's wicked grin. "I guess you have been practicing, huh?"

"You know it. If I can keep this up, I bet I can start a full-on war between all the others. Then I could just sit back and watch."

"You'll have to put your doomsday prank plans on hold until after we've shown this data to Sage. And after I've already left so I don't get involved." He gave Spin a brotherly shove as they headed off to find Sage.

[cheerfulmelancholies]

Mysterious New Member Chapter 12

 Diana steeled herself as she parked in the upper garage. Stepping out of the Camaro, she took a deep breath and let it out; she needed to calm her nerves and reign in her temper in case the first person she bumped into was Tezz. She grabbed her luggage and strode to the elevator.

 Sage looked up from her screens at the sight of Diana approaching. She was unsure how to react to the girl who was likely still upset.

 “Hey... Sage,” Diana greeted with an awkward wave. She’d just finished putting away her stuff and was not expecting to run into the alien so soon. Her presence did nothing to soothe her already fragile nerves. “Where is everybody?”

 “AJ and Zoom are in the game room. The others are on a mission. I had picked up an emergency signal from Zemerik warning us about my brother’s plans. He claimed Krytus was searching for some sort of item that would grant him access to unspeakable power. With it, he could conquer the multi-verse. There are not many objects I can think of that would allow Krytus to do such damage, but those that I can...” She observed the girl’s reaction. “I am certain you understand the importance of this.” 

 Diana suppressed a shudder as she nodded. “I understand,” she said through the dryness of her throat. “When do you think they’ll be back?”

 “They have only been gone for twelve minutes. Unless Zemerik’s information turns out to be false, I suspect they will be gone quite a while.”

 “Considering all the things this Zemerik guy has done, I’m sure that if the info was false then it was nothing more than a set up.”

 Sage frowned at the bitterness behind her words. “Perhaps. I will be checking in with them regularly and will inform you if anything goes wrong.”

 “Right.” Diana avoided making eye contact, instead opting to take in the surroundings. Whiplash remained exactly where she’d left it prior to bolting, seemingly untouched. The sight of the car they’d given her in good faith made her stomach tighten. She was going to leave when the Sentient spoke again.

 “I understand that you have no reason to tell me,” Sage began, “and I am not trying to force you either. However, it is very important to us all that we know how you got ahold of technology from my people.” She saw Diana’s face turn into a small grimace and tried another approach. Dropping to her feet, she took a couple of steps closer but still kept some distance between them. She was all too aware of Diana’s discomfort around her. “You said your father gave you that car, correct?”

 “Yeah, that’s right,” she said, wishing she had the ability to teleport. “It’s old, loud, and smells like cheap cigarettes no matter how much I clean it. My dad left it to me. He isn’t dead,” she added when she realized how that sounded. “Look, all I ever knew about the thing was that it meant a lot to him, ok? I didn’t know anything about the components or aliens or whatever. I knew he redesigned the interior and that was it. It’s always just been a normal car to me.” She folded her arms and willed herself to meet the alien’s eyes.

 “I understand,” Sage said with a gentle tone. Sensing it was time to change the subject, she suggested Diana go and hang with AJ and Zoom while she awaited the others’ return.

 “I think I will,” the teen said as she turned and took even strides away.

 Sage watched her go, wondering what her father could have possibly done and who he could have met to get such advanced technology.

 Diana found the game room and heard the shouting before she even reached the door. It slid open just in time for her to see Zoom leap off the couch, fists raised in victory.

 “Yes!” he shouted, landing just next to the coffee table as he did a little dance.

 “Aw, I was so close to beating you,” AJ cried, though it was clear he wasn’t all that upset.

 “So close and yet so far,” Zoom said, calming down enough to catch Diana standing awkwardly in the doorway. “Oh… Hey.”

 “Hey,” she replied with a nod.

 “You came back!” AJ went over and pulled her to the couch like she hadn’t bailed on them the night before. “Zoom and I were playing Mech Destroyer. Wanna join?”

 “Sure.” She took the controller he offered as Zoom sat on the other end of the couch, AJ between them. Not that she minded the distance. It was clear the scout didn’t have much trust in her and she couldn’t say the feeling wasn’t mutual.

 It was about time she did something to change that.

 “So,” she began, cycling through the various options of killer robots, “you guys seem pretty chill about the others being away on a mission.”

 “Aw, they’ll be fine,” AJ said with a shrug. “They’ve dealt with worse.”

 “And we’re on standby if anything goes wrong,” came Zoom, choosing a lightweight mech with laser canons and grenades.

 Diana selected the equivalent of a walking tank. Though it was likely nothing more than an offhand comment, she couldn’t help but feel it was some sort of dig. Something aimed at her distrust, however deserved it may have been.

 The battle started and Zoom had the clear advantage, already knowing the controls by heart. He took several distance shots and, when it was clear she had no idea what she was doing, he began rocketing past her while taking potshots as a joke. His mech wasn’t doing a ton of damage, but if he kept up he could easily whittle down her health.

 Diana figured out how to aim and shoot—thanks to AJ’s guidance—and when Zoom attempted to make another drive-by, she unloaded heavy ordinance onto him. After a couple successful hits, they were equally damaged. Now that she knew what she was doing, the battle could really begin.

 Their virtual competition went on for a little over an hour before Sage announced the arrival of the team. Pity. Diana had just started getting into her zone. The three of them headed down to the Hub to see how it went.

 “What did you guys find out?” asked Zoom as he strode over to them.

 Agura was the first to respond. “We checked everywhere. All we found were some busted up Zurk. It looked like the Reds’ and Zemerik’s armies were thrown into a blender.”

 “And it was suspiciously devoid of any robot dictators,” Stanford added as he hopped out of Reverb.

 Sage floated into the conversation. “Did you find the device Zemerik was speaking of?”

 “That’s just it; we didn’t find anything except the remains of Sark. I checked every way I know how.” Agura was both perplexed and agitated that her tracking skills were unable to locate a single trail leading to anything. Aside from the obvious carnage, she could find nothing unusual.

 “I also scanned the area with my sensors,” came Tezz. “As did Sherman and Spinner, and Stanford with his sonar.”

 “And you discovered nothing?”

 “Sorry, Sage,” Vert said, not missing her distress. “Whatever Zemerik was talking about, we couldn’t find it. Either he nabbed it and fought off the Reds long enough to escape or…”

 “Or the Reds have it,” Spinner finished with a shudder. 

 “What’s this mystery item anyway?” Diana asked, tired of being left in the dark. She recalled Sage’s vague mention prior. “Do you guys even know what you were supposed to be looking for?” An ‘item’ could be a lot of things. A weapon, a key, a giant robot. She looked to the Sentient for an answer.

 Sage thought about it. After several moments, she spoke. “As I stated to Diana before, there are not many items I can think of that would allow Krytus to take over the multi-verse with such ease. However, there are a few.”

 “Such as?” Agura encouraged.

 “A temporal device able to manipulate the fabric of time. A crystal similar to that of the double-helix but with far more devastating effects. An inter-dimensional portal generator, able to open portals to both existing places as well as having the ability to create new planes of existence.”

 Spinner blanched. “Is this in increasing level of horror or are you just going by random order?”

 Sage glanced at him. What she was about to say next would do nothing to ease his fears. “If you are wondering why devices such as these even exist… They are how my people crafted the Battle Zones.”

 Everyone either gasped or made a similar sound of shock.

 Tezz’s brain went into overdrive and he was first to break the stunned silence. “So the Sentients… created tools that allowed them to rearrange the very fabric of the space-time continuum?”

 “That is correct.”

 “I… There is one thing I don’t understand.”

 “That’s certainly a first,” came Stanford. The sarcasm made a great shield to hide how freaked out he was feeling.

 Tezz shot him a glare before turning back to Sage. “Why is it that the Sentients made such amazing devices, only for the war to break out and cause them to be lost? Why not have them destroyed?”

 “Yeah, I’m actually with Tezz on this one,” said Agura. The way she looked as she said it made it seem like it left a bad taste in her mouth. “If these things were so powerful, how is it they still exist when they’re no longer needed? If it were me, I’d be worried about them falling into the wrong hands. Especially when it comes to Krytus and his Reds.”

 Sage shook her head, quieting any further comments. “These devices—and many others—were in fact destroyed. Krytus obtaining them would be impossible. He would have to rebuild them. That is what worries me.”

 “You mean Krytus has the blueprints to these things just lying around in his head?” Vert asked, disbelieving. There was no way the Red wouldn’t have used them by now, unless he didn’t know they were there. He wondered if perhaps they were buried deep in his subconscious, like the entirety of the Blue Sentient minds in Sage.

 He didn’t have to wonder long.

 “Allow me to explain,” Sage began, pausing as if taking a deep breath. “Before the war between the Reds and Blues, creating the multi-verse had been a joint effort. Numerous groups were put together to realize the vision of the Battle Zones. Much complex equipment was needed, and not a single one of us was able to create it all alone.

 “We needed dozens of minds working together to successfully create it. The end result was a sort of factory, designed to build all of the equipment necessary. The multi-verse was completed long before the war broke out, though there were tensions even then. In order to keep the balance of our carefully constructed worlds, we dismantled the equipment and the factory was shut down. That way, nothing could ever fall into the wrong hands.”

 “So what could Zemerik possibly know about it?” Vert questioned, not liking the feeling he was getting.

 “It is possible that Zemerik found long-lost data logs detailing the factory’s existence. That, or he knows the factory’s location. Krytus himself may even know. If either is the case, we must take precautions.”

 “I think you mean we have to go beat up a tin can and a bunch of angry Red-heads,” Spinner said.

 “Okay, hold on a minute,” Diana demanded. She stepped up and waved away anyone else’s comments. “Let me get this straight: your people made a bunch of universe-destroying technology to go landscaping, worried about any unnecessary damage in the future, and so you shut everything down? Instead of—oh, I don’t know—using that equipment to destroy the whole damn factory? And now two of the big bads know about it, and are one hundred percent going to try and use it to take over everything! What kind of logic is that?”

 “Diana, calm down.” Agura stepped over and placed a hand on her shoulder, only for it to get shaken off.

 “Right. Yeah. Let’s just go finish playing video games you guys. I’m sure they’ll get tired of being evil eventually.” She was still too high-strung for this. She wasn’t ready for another mission. She still hadn’t recovered from the shock of her last fight with the Reds. Hearing this after just coming back was beyond overwhelming.

 “Hey,” Vert snapped. He leveled a firm glare at her when she flicked her gaze to him. “I know this is a lot for you to handle, but do you think you could cool it a little? We’re trying to figure things out here, not have a whining competition.”

 Diana held his gaze for several seconds longer before tearing it away, jaw clenching. The meaning was crystal clear: he knew she wasn’t preprepared for any of this and shouldn’t even be in the conversation right now. She expected some hostility after everything, but not like this.

 The others stood in tense silence, no one knowing what could be said to better the situation.

 Sage stared at Vert a long while, having never seen this side of him. Nothing in any of her countless interactions with him told her how to handle this. So she acted like it hadn’t happened. “There is… some good news in all of this,” she offered. To their curious gazes, sans Diana, she said, “Due to the fragile nature of what we were doing, no one being was given full access to any aspect of the factory. Numerous safety protocols were put into place that would disallow someone to so much as access the entire mainframe. Even I do not know the full scope of the systems.”

 “So how much do you think Krytus knows?” Sherman asked. “Do you think it’s enough for him to do any damage?”

 “No. It is my understanding that there is no way to get into the mainframe or even build a piece of equipment without multiple passes from other members of the effort. Members who, as you may have guessed, are no longer able to give access.”

 “So what’s our next move?” Vert wanted to start planning this operation as soon as possible. If they were lucky, they’d be able to put a stop to the whole thing relatively quickly.

 “We will have to find the location of the factory.”

 “You mean, you don’t know?”

 “No, Sherman, I do not recall. Part of the safety procedure was to wipe the memories of any members, lest they go rogue in the future. I understand the factory’s purpose, but I do not know its exact location. I only have a few pieces of data that would be considered useful. It is likely the same for Krytus.”

 Vert sighed. This was turning into a stressful week for him. “Well, all we can do is follow any leads we find. Let’s do what we do best team! Let’s go save the multi-verse!”

 Diana didn’t join in on the cheer, instead slinking away to go to her room. She needed to lie down.

[the-firebird69]

Coming Soon: Ringbrothers 1,010 HP Camaro STRODE - "Markesan, WI" - Jay ...

This is actually Trump and he's the idiot driving and it stand is the passenger who learned about the plan and our son knows he's trying to motivate himself and he said what it is said he's got social security running it and he wants to cut him off and threaten not to get him money and have him going prison and other things and then give him money after he gets what he wants he'll have control over the money completely and this is what the jerk was up to and you grabbed tons of stuff by doing it and have the robots activated and Dan has been going after him and frustrated now tons of people are you guys are f**** a massive massive f**** and a loser and he didn't do anything normal and he's been giving up stuff nobody would and people see it and they went after him anyways now he's in court and he's going to go down and it exposes the max or two that they didn't want

Thor Freya

He says it's too late we're exposed and doomed in a way and we understand that and it's this Trump loser and that is a big a****** playing against this guy we do see what he's saying I can't control myself in any way this mother f***** has to go down and we suddenly saw what you're saying he's a huge jerk to him that's very personal things is and really prison and this is not going to work out you're fired Trump

Macs

You can't fire me I fired you first and all that horseshit

Trump

We didn't say all that horse s*** but he's saying it because he's a loser now we're going to start firing his people for real this is disgusting and a lot of it is coming out and he's murdering tons of people including Max

Macs

I've heard enough it's this s*** had Trump and he's ruining other people with it I want him dead and Garth was going to be the lead person in prison for Christ save the guy was accepting it now he sees it and he knows oh that's stupid

Mac daddy they knew about the robots then but not that they're this many and without many everybody's in trouble now it's on

Olympus

[en-wheelz-me]

[wimpydave]

Ringbrothers 1,010 HP Camaro STRODE - Jay Leno's Garage

[randomperson351]

Comic book store (Part 1) - BH

Summary: Billy's concern for Max when she is late leaving the comic book store could lead him to the best decision of his life.

Note: ~~~~ means time skip.

Do not repost or rewrite any of my works. Minors and ageless blogs are blocked.

Masterlist

Billy had just pulled up outside the comic book store in his signature Camaro with music blaring out of it waiting for Max to come out; he reclined his seat slightly and hung a cigarette loosely from his lips as he waited.

Twenty five minutes. It had been twenty five minutes and still no sign of Max. Although he'd made it abundantly clear to her before she left this morning that if she was late she'd be walking home, Billy still hadn't moved from his spot. Since he was parked right outside the shop, he could poke his head up and look in every once in a while but he never saw a glimpse of her.

"Goddamn it Max." Billy grumbled to himself as he set his seat straight and hauled himself out of the car, slamming the door behind him and throwing the used cigarette on the ground before he went inside.

The door chimed when Billy walked in, alerting all five people that were inside to his presence. He  wasn't suddenly shy now, just having ten pairs of eyes on you watching every step you took was a little nerve wracking. The nerves quickly dissipated when Billy realised none of those eyes belonged to Max; meaning she was either hiding or had already walked home.

Having had enough games, Billy strode over to the front desk where a nervous looking guy was awkwardly eyeing him and dropped his hands on the desk.

"Have you seen a girl walk in here?" He asked the poor boy bluntly.

"What does she look like?" The boy asked timidly, not wanting to be on the receiving end of a furious Billy Hargrove.

"Young, short and ginger with a shit-ton of attitude." Billy crudely described his step-sister, wanting to leave after she wasted his time already.

"Oh, Max," the boy came to realisation, it was hard not to remember some of the colourful things that had come out of her mouth before, "she's over in the far corner with Inanna." He pointed towards the end of the store with no windows and therefore no way of being seen if anyone was over there.

Billy nodded his head in thanks and confidently strode over to the area of the shop that had been described to him, hearing his heavy boots thump along the floor as he was ready to lay into Max for wasting his time.

Before he heard Max's voice though, there was another. It was soft, smooth, yet sounded almost delicate. Billy supposed this must've been the other girl the boy told him about at the desk, Inanna; and when he rounded that corner he found his answer.

Sitting on the floor, in a swarm of comic books, were Max and what might've been the most jaw-droppingly yet at the same time subtly beautiful girl Billy had ever seen in his life.

"Oh...Billy, hi." Max stuttered out, completely forgetting about the time and now realising he was going to be an even bigger dick to her when they got home than normal. She would just get so wrapped up in the alternate worlds these books provided she forgot to watch the clock, apparently this time by quite a while; Billy had never had to come in and get her, usually he'd just drive home.

"Max you're thirty minutes late, get your shit and leave." He told her with no sense of delicacy. Billy stood and waited while Max gathered her skateboard and the books she wanted to by and followed her all the way to the cashier so she wouldn't try and spend any more time there than necessary. The girl helped Max carry the stack of books she'd collected to the till and looked at her with a knowing look.

"Alright, which one do you want to buy?" She asked Max, knowing for a fact she didn't have enough money to buy all of the ones she'd selected.

"The X-Men ones and the Wonder Woman book." Max replied confidently, but visibly deflating when the same sympathetic smile made its way onto Inanna's face.

"Max I think you and I both know you don't have enough money to afford all of those."

"Come on, don't you offer discounts?" The young girl tried but to no avail.

"I'm already giving you a discount that should've expired weeks ago and my staff discount. If I give you anymore the shop is going to go under, and we both know what that means; no more comic books."

"Yeah well if I worked here I could use my staff discount." The fiery redhead argued, but Billy's patience had finally gone.

"If you don't have the money, you can't but the books Max. You have five minutes and then you can walk home, without your skateboard." He threatened, walking past Max and grabbing her skateboard before she could and waltzing back to his car to start counting down the minutes.

"First of all, you're too young to work here and second of all I told you, any of the books you don't buy today I keep in my locker so you can buy them another time. Now if I were you I'd pick three, because that's all you can afford, to buy now and go back to your step-brother before he leaves you here again." Inanna explained, making Max finally back down and pick the comics she wanted, after paying running back outside and into Billy's car before he could drive off without her.

"Who's that?" He asked bluntly once they were, at last, on their way home.

"She's just a friend." Max said quietly, not wanting to piss Billy off anymore than she already had.

"A little old to be your friend isn't she?"

"I guess, look it's not a big deal. Okay?" She replied with a bit of a snip, just wanting to get home and in the safety of her own room to read about the characters she envied so much.

"Watch the attitude shitberg." Billy responded immediately to the bite in his step-sister's tone of voice. The rest of the car ride after that was an uncomfortable silence, luckily ending when Billy pulled in the driveway of his house and Max leapt out, running up the path with her skateboard in one hand and comic books in the other, locking herself into her room and delving into the mystery worlds.

~~~~

"How many fucking times have I told you to stop hanging out with him, and you continue to do it anyway?!"

The Hargrove-Mayfield siblings were yet again at each other's throats. Billy had gone to pick up Max from the arcade and low and behold, Lucas Sinclair was there. After the many warnings Max had gotten from her step-brother, he thought the message had been thoroughly received. Needless to say when Billy caught them hanging out together all Hell had broken loose as soon as they'd got home.

"How many times do I have to tell you we weren't hanging out, it's a small town and its kinda hard not to run into people!" Max shouted back from the other side of the living room. She was just on her way to lock herself in her room again until her mum got home when Billy opened the floodgates of fighting.

"I don't know what I need to do to get it into your thick ass skull, but the next time I catch you hanging out with him, and you lie to me about it, I'll break your fucking skateboard." He threatened again, and Lord knows it was not an empty threat.

"Why can't you just stay the Hell out of my life. I don't want you in it and I sure as hell know you don't want to be in it, so back off!" Max screamed at him, not prepared for what was to come next. Billy took long strides across the room and had a strong, bordering on painful, hold on his step-sister's wrists as he spoke, making her look him in the eyes so she had to listen to every cruel word.

"You know, for once in your meaningless life you're right. I don't want a damn thing to do with you or your mother, but unfortunately I didn't get a choice so neither do you. I don't want to be in your life as much your shitass dad didn't want to be, clearly, because why else would he have left? A screw up bitch as a daughter and a man stealing whore for a wife-"

"Don't call my mum anything, you don't know her-"

"I mean I salute him for leaving, I sure as hell would've if I had you as a daughter. Unfortunately for you though, because he did in fact leave, you're stuck with me as a brother and my dad as a father; so as long as you're under this roof, everything in your life has something to do with me."

"You don't anything about my family." Max protested weakly against his words, the tears and violent sobs that were wracking her body making it hard to talk as she pulled her wrists from Billy's iron grip.

"Oh Max, I know everything I need to know already." Billy said with extreme bluntness, watching her run away from him with her skateboard and slam her bedroom door shut.

In the comic book store it was fairly quiet, less customers than usual because of the sudden blast of cold weather they'd had in the morning but it was peaceful nonetheless. Inanna was in the back room on her lunch break when Joel burst through the door and beckoned her through the shop with a worried expression on his face.

Without hesitation, Inanna sprung from her seat and raced into the shop, quickly finding a distressed Max from the volume of her cries being comforted by another of the employees, Cody.

"Oh my God, what the hell is going on, are you hurt?" She rushed out as she climbed over the dividing barrier of the checkout and ran to Max, feeling her heart clench seeing the normally fierce and argumentative girl reduced to uneven breaths and a waterfall of tears. Max clung onto her as she cried her eyes out, Cody holding on to her skateboard and Joel looking relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with a crying child.

"Okay honey, deep breaths. That's it, in and out, good girl, there you go. Come on, I'll take you round the back." With a heave and some upper body strength, Inanna managed to pick Max up without moving her too much and led her through to the back room; Cody following suit with her skateboard, but he just propped it up and then left the girls to it.

Once in there and settled, Inanna held Max tightly and swayed them from left to right as the redhead tried to even her breathing calm down a bit.

"Come on, let's sit down." Inanna led them to the small table where her lunch still sat half eaten from earlier.

The two girls sat down and Inanna pulled out a tissue for Max to wipe her eyes with and blow her nose before taking her hand and holding it tightly for support.

"Now, can you tell me what happened?" Inanna asked the hiccuping teenager gently, not wanting to upset her more than she already was.

"I was leaving the arcade, cause Billy was there to pick me up, when Lucas started talking to me. Billy saw and thought I was hanging out with him when I wasn't and he started yelling at me when we got home-" Max stopped to wipe her eyes that were filling with tears before continuing "-he said he was happy my dad left us and he called my mum a whore and called me a bitch so I ran to my room and sneaked out the window so I could skate here." The poor girl finished in a state, snotty nosed and red eyed, you couldn't help but feel for her.

Inanna pulled her into a hug instantly, Max happily reciprocating, and could only think of one thing to cheer the girl up.

"Well hey, here's some good news," she hinted, hoping to distract Max from her home life even just for a few minutes.

"What?"

"There's a new discount on comic books, take three you like completely free because of a douchebag step-brother." She suggested, letting go of Max and walking back to her locker, Inanna picked the top three comic books and walked back out to give them to the girl. She figured the least she could do was give her some 'free' books to cheer her up, even if it was at the expense of her own pay check.

"Thank you," Max said gratefully, looping her arms around Inanna's head again.

A throat cleared which made the girls release each other and look towards the doorway, and from the look on Joel's face, they both knew what was about to be said.

"Max's step brother is here for her, he's waiting out front." Joel announced begrudgingly, not wanting to deal with Billy or have to send Max back with him having seen what grief he caused his own sister.

"Thanks Joel, we'll be right out." Inanna said, giving a small smile to him.

"I don't want to go." Max said desperately, not wanting to face another episode of Billy's wrath; one was more than enough for everyone involved.

"I know sweetie, but just think of it this way; the sooner you go home and sleep the rest of the day away, the sooner you can come back?" She suggested, hoping to cheer Max up even a little bit.

"I suppose."

"Come on, I'll come through with you."

"Are you sure?" Max asked, grabbing her new comic books and skateboard as the two walked towards the door that led the shop, and therefore Billy.

"Of course I am, you don't have to face him alone Max." Inanna insisted, not mentioning the fact that she wanted to give him a piece of her mind once Max was out of earshot.

"That's what you think, but we've got a lovely family dinner tonight." Max sighed, not even trying to face what that was going to be like.

The two walked through the doors and immediately saw the familiar blue eyes of Billy. Max looked down in fear, not only of him, but also of crying again just by seeing the stern expression on his face. Whereas Inanna kept a calm look on her face and merely took the books from Max to scan them through so she could pay for them.

"Let's go Max, or we'll be late." Billy said shortly to his sister, motioning her towards the car.

"I need to wait for my comic books." Max responded quietly, turning away from Billy's gaze and towards Inanna who was counting up the total and getting some money from her pocket, her head raised when she heard Max turn to her.

"That's alright sweetie, go wait outside in the car and I'll send Billy out with the books."

She smiled at her. Max had to hold back a smirk, knowing Inanna had a plan to do something to Billy and wanting to see it, but decided against fighting back and just left the shop to wait in Billy's car.

"So you're the step brother?" She began, not wanting to frighten him off just yet.

"As advertised." He jested with his hands, walking closer to the front desk to talk to her and get Max's comic books.

"Good, I'm talking to the right person."

"What-"

Inanna swiftly grabbed Billy's jean jacket on his arm and pulled it closer to the desk, making him grunt in surprise and look directly at her.

"The next time she comes in here in the state she was in today, I'll slash your fucking tires." She threatened, making his eyes widen in surprise and then nod his head in understanding. Inanna slammed the comic books into his hands and released his arm, standing back and giving him a tight, fake smile. "Have a nice day."

Billy turned and walked out of the comic book store in shock of what just happened. No girl had ever threatened him like that before, sure maybe he had gotten into it with a couple of their boyfriends before but never the girl. He swung himself into his car and plopped the books onto Max's lap as she wasn't even looking in his direction but out of the car window instead.

The drive back to the house was painful. It was filled with tension and what felt like pure hatred for each other, Billy secretly wanted to talk to his sister about what happened but didn't have the courage to do it and Max wouldn't even look at him. He at least hoped she'd be a smart mouth and say something petty or sarcastic, even shout at him like she normally would; but she stayed silent. Not a word. That was how badly Billy knew he fucked up; if Max wasn't even screaming at him he knew he was in trouble.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two step siblings made it home. Max ran straight out of the car with her skateboard and books, into the house while Billy lagged behind, thinking of a way he could at least try and get Max to talk to him again, even if that meant back to shouting at each other.

Max ran right past the kitchen and through to her bedroom to lock herself away, hearing a faint "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes," come from her mother. "Okay." She shouted in response, locking her bedroom door again where Billy had obviously picked it the first time when he realised Max wasn't in the house after their fight.

Billy dragged his feet through the door about a minute after Max bolted through, dreading what was going to happen and being eaten alive with slow forming guilt sucker punching him in the stomach.

"Oh Billy good, dinner will be ready in ten minutes, could you go and ask Max what she wants to drink please? She ran through here awfully fast a few moments ago." Susan asked him, turning to face him briefly before going back to cooking whatever she was cooking. With a stern look from his father, Billy agreed.

"Sure." He replied, walking through the living room to get to his room where he dumped his jacket and shoes down before preparing himself to talk to Max.

He knocked on her door first and predictably got no answer. He knocked a second time in hopes she would come around but again got no answer. After knocking a third time, he got somewhere.

"Who is it?" Max called, far too engrossed in her comic book to be talking to her family.

"Billy." He answered. Max went quiet again, waiting to hear him continue.

"Your mum asked me to ask you what you wanted to drink with dinner."

"Just water."

Billy nodded his head at her response, glad she didn't completely ignore him and was somewhat talking to him. He went back to the kitchen and told Susan, then waited in the lounge for the horrible night to start.

~~~~ The dinner has started. ~~~~

It was painful. The two feuding step siblings were sat opposite each other, Billy staring holes into Max's head to make her look at him and her avoiding him at all costs. She hadn't said a word all evening. Neil was sat next to Billy and Susan next to Max, blissfully unaware of the hateful words that lingered in the walls from the afternoon's events.

"So Max, how were the arcades?" Neil shattered the silence, making Billy jump so much he nearly knocked his drink over.

"They were a lot of fun." She responded, keeping her eyes strictly on Neil and ending with a tight smile in his direction before going back to picking at her food.

"Billy said you went to the comic book store, anything good there?" Susan asked her daughter, hoping to start some sort of conversation. On any other night, once you got Max talking about her comic books you wouldn't be able to stop, however tonight was different. Very different.

"I got three new books, Inanna's still holding some for me."

"Why only three?" Neil inquired.

"I couldn't afford any others." Max replied semi-honestly. She didn't exactly want to mention she'd got them for free, but on the other hand she didn't have any money on her to buy anymore.

"Billy has money on him, why didn't he buy more for you?" Neil asked pointedly at his son.

"I uh-" Billy started in order to defend himself but Max stepped in.

"I asked him not to, so I wouldn't read them all at once and spoil my liking for them." Max said in aid of her step-brother. Billy's heart clenched painfully, even though he'd hurt his step-sister in indescribable ways this afternoon, she still defended him against his own father.

"Inanna's such a nice girl, we should have her over for a dinner some time." Susan suggested.

"I quite agree. Well I had quite an exciting day at work..." Neil started, leading the conversation in another direction. Billy and Max stayed silent for the rest of the night, both wanting the day to end and a new day to begin.

Part 2

[wintersxani]

Hi could you do a billy request where the girl is Steves younger sister and starts sneaking around with billy . When a girl at school makes a comment about her relationship everyone learns she's just like billy . Also can you put a part in where it mentions her being taken with will

Please and thank you

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙩 | Billy Hargrove x fem!Harrington!reader

Warning(s): trauma, smut mentions, flashback/past mentions, language

Word Count: 754

Characters: Billy Hargrove, Steve Harrington, Tina, Carol Perkins

A/N: I apologize if I misunderstood some parts of the request, but I tried my request to fulfill it! I hope you enjoy <3

In November of 1983, you had been transported to the upside down, along with Will Byers and Barbara Holland. All three of you simultaneously fought for your life, two out of three making it out. You and Will Byers had been rescued from the Upside down thanks to a powerful 12 year old girl, who had found all three of you.

Unfortunately for Barbara Holland, her fight was cut short, and didn't make it out like you and Will had. You were only one year younger than your brother, Steve Harrington. You were the reason he was mixed up into all of this, which you felt guilty for, but you had no clue how you got yourself into this in the first place.

After being ripped out of the nightmare that you had been trapped in for what seemed to be forever, your dreams had been plagued by your experiences every night. You'd wake up screaming, crying, scared out of your mind, and so much more. Many nights you had to sleep in your brothers room, who had no clue what to honestly do.

You had been the luckiest of the three Upside Down survivors. All that you had been stuck with was nightmares and trauma that you had no one besides Will, a boy much younger than yourself, to talk to about. Your parents weren't involved with your brother and you all that much, and you knew they wouldn't believe you if you talked about your fears, so you kept quiet.

The nightmares didn't stop until 1984, the next year. All because you met a boy that had been the newest to your school, quickly dethroning your brother. It felt wrong to like Billy Hargrove, he was Steve's biggest rival, and the two practically hated each other's guts.

Billy took your brother's reputation as his own, and although you felt bad for your broken hearted brother, who had been dumped by Nancy Wheeler, you believed he needed it to break through his ego and make him a better person, and it did.

While you were off sneaking around with Billy Hargrove, your brother was hanging out with the Middle Schooler's that helped in your rescue. No one knew about you and Billy, about your quickies in the back seat of his blue camaro, hook up's in the empty school classroom's, or just pretending to spend the night at a friend's house but really, you were in his bed.

You'd rather die than let your older, very protective brother know about what was going on between you two, but in October of 1984, truth came out. You had no idea how, and Billy denied that he said a word, but it was too late.

As you walked down the halls of Hawkins high, every head was turned to you, whispers surrounding as faces popped in shock. Carol and Tina strode up to you, crossing their arms in disapproval. "So.. you and Billy are fuck buddies or something? I'm surprised he even noticed you, what'd you have to do to have him hook up with you? Who knew y/n Harrington was a whore." Carol cackled aloud, sending gasps through the hallway.

Naturally, nearly every girl in Hawkins was either jealous of you, hated you, or was shocked. You weren't popular like your brother, you were just known to be 'King Steve's little sis,' and you hated that. Even though you hated to admit it, you liked people recognizing you, and knowing your name, even if it was because of what you were doing, or with whom.

"And you aren't?" You laughed back, Billy striding in after both Carol and Tina gasped in shock. Billy's arm slung around your shoulder as the two of you stared the catty girls down, Billy whispering 'wanna beat their asses?' into your ear, sending a giggle through your mouth.

"Nah, they're not worth it." You cackled, hitting your shoulder into Carol's sharply as you passed, sending a kiss over your shoulder. You were almost like an equivalent to Billy Hargrove, but female, and maybe not as aggressive, but you had the confidence, and a sharp tongue; Billy loved that about you.

When Steve found out about you two, he immediately disapproved of your relationship with Billy, but he was happy to see that you weren't affected by your past anymore, and he was happy that Billy made you happy, even if he wasn't the person he wanted to make you happy. Your happiness was what mattered over anything else.

-

➺ Masterlist | 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

[mourntheantagonist]

#HarringroveApril Day 12: Soda

***

Billie planned to up and ditch Hawkins at the exact moment she threw her cap in the air on graduation night. She had her bag already packed and ready to go, just waiting in the back seat of the Camaro in the school parking lot with enough clothes to last the multi-day drive from Indiana to the Pacific, and all of the cash she’d been saving since she was only fifteen years old because this had been her plan from there very start. Graduate, leave, never come back.

But there were two things she hadn’t considered. One, her original plan didn’t take into account the relocation across the country, which would require almost half of her funds. And two, the pretty brunette that sat beside her through the whole ceremony. The girl who wore sneakers every day and stumbled in her out-of-practice high heels as she walked across the stage to receive her diploma, the girl who nudged Billie’s knee with hers and giggled alongside her at Nancy’s salutatorian speech, the girl who looked at her for the first time since she’d wound up in the shithole with those big brown Bambi eyes and there wasn’t a tinge of hatred in them, just those big and bright eyes looking at her almost fondly and it was enough to make Billie melt on the spot and instead of driving toward to interstate like her plan entailed, she turned left down Cherry Lane and slept another fearful night in that bed because those eyes were like a teather.

She put in her application at the pool the next day. Might as well get a paycheck while hopelessly pining after the girl who made it clear the day that she met you that she wanted nothing to do with you.

But, despite all of that, Billie was definitely hoping that despite the rich girl having a pool of her own, maybe she’d come around for a dip at least once so she could see her in that itty bitty two-piece she had fantasies about.

Billie’s favorite part about Hawkins Community Pool had nothing to do with the water at all, Billie’s favorite part was the little tucked away vending machine behind the locker rooms that nobody seemed to know about. The one that still had leftover classic Coca-Cola from before the switchover to New Coke. That’s where Billie first saw Stevie adorning her little blue bikini that was more than her wildest dreams could have pictured, and that wasn’t even the half of it. Her hair was wet and sticking to her shoulder and there were little water droplets peppered all over her body alongside her moles, perfectly glistening in the sun making her look like she was sparkling.

And then she bent over to grab herself the bottle of Coke out of the machine and Billie had to refrain from staring at her ass as the bathing suit rode up and gave its little show to the world.

Billie awkwardly walked to the vending machine and pretended like her heart didn’t just stop for a second.

“Billie? I didn’t know you were still in town.” Stevie gave her a once over at the red one-piece suit with the Lifeguard logo on the front. “You work here?”

“Uh, yeah. My shift is just about to start.” Billie said, fiddling with the strap on her suit. “Figured I could use the extra cash.”

“So you’re still planning on going huh?”

She didn’t want to just say yes, not with the way Stevie was looking at her all hopeful for something else. “Only if nothing stops me.” she finally said.

Stevie gave her a half smile before patting her on the shoulder. “Well good luck out there.”

And before Billie could ask her what she meant by that, she was already around the corner and out of sight.

But Stevie came back just two days later. Same suit, different color, a bright red that matched her own lifeguard getup. And Billie had an aerial view from her lifeguard tower of Stevie laid out on a beach chair as she sipped from her bottle of cherry cola, and Billie got to watch her comfortably from behind her aviators and nobody had to know where her eyes were fixed, right on the image that looked like it was pulled straight out of Coca-Cola commercial.

They had talked again at the vending machine earlier, but it was still the same dry conversation as the first time. Billie stole a couple of looks for herself and then they talked about work or rumors about former classmates. And then like last time, Stevie walked away, and the cycle continues.

And it did become a cycle.

Every day Billie would go over to the soda machine before her shift would start and Stevie would always be right there, already reaching for her new bottle, preparing for their minimalist conversation and following it all up by Billie ogling her through the guise of her sunglasses while Stevie attempted to tan on that pale skin of hers.

This continued halfway into the summer to late July where the heat was cranked up as high as it could go and suddenly the pool started getting more and more crowded, and Stevie had burned one too many times in an attempt to get that sun kissed glow that her visits to the pool became less and less frequent.

But still, Billie would keep going to that vending machine every day and even wait around for several minutes hoping that maybe she was just running late.

But she never was.

And Billie was left to drink her bottle of Coke alone, and think about how if there even was a chance, she’d completely missed it.

Mid August hit and she had come back, wearing that same blue swimsuit she had on that first day at the pool and Billie had already put her two weeks in.

Billie was known for her confidence. The way she strode through the halls of the high school like she owned the place on her very first day. The way she turned down the entire football team saying she could do better, she appeared to ooze confidence. But talking to pretty girls, especially when trying to flirt, not one of her strong suits.

So she rushed over to the vending machine and put her plan into action before Stevie made it from the parking lot to the back of the building, where she would hopefully still go, and hopefully notice the note taped to the number pad.

Billie did like she said on the post-it. She waited by the pool until after closing when the sun was setting and the sizzling temperatures of the mid-day had settled to a comfortable eighty-five. She tried not to look at the clock, but she couldn’t help herself but stare as the seconds ticked away and nine-o’clock grew closer and closer and the familiar hum of the Beemer wasn’t heard over the sounds of crickets and crows flying overhead.

She was ready to leave as nine o’clock had finally hit, already pulling her feet from the water and throwing her zip up back on. She was just going to finish out her two weeks and high tail it out of there. Forget Hawkins. And try to forget Stevie.

But it’s hard to forget a person when they’re standing right in front of you.

Billie had turned around the second Steve had walked in, still in her bikini with a cardigan over it holding two bottles of coke from the vending machine.

Their vending machine.

“These were the last ones.” She said, handing one of the bottles over to Billie.

“Well that’s depressing.”

Stevie laughed. “Yeah, and fitting I guess.” Billie sighed and took a seat back down on the pool's edge and took a drink from the Coke bottle, and as much as she enjoyed the flavor of classic, she could really go for a beer right about now. Steve followed and sat right beside her, their knees touching, just like graduation night. “So you’re really leaving?”

“I put in my two weeks.” Billie drew circles in the water with her finger, watching it ripple instead of looking at her. “I take it you got my note?”

“Yeah.”

“So...?”

Stevie took her own swig from her bottle, pretending and hoping for the alcoholic placebo.

“You told me you’d go as long as nothing stopped you.”

“Are you gonna stop me?”

Stevie took Billie by the chin and made her look her in the eye. And once again she was caught in those deep brown eyes like they held the whole world. “If you’ll let me.”

Billie didn’t waste a second before closing the distance between them. Lips contacting with a soft but lust-filled force. She tasted just as sweet as Billie thought she would.

She tastes just like classic Coca-Cola.

[neonponders]

So he went home.

And…a car he’d never seen sat in his driveway. Perhaps the outdated, blue Camaro was what encouraged him to park on his curb. That couldn’t be a vamp’s car…could it? A shithead with enough money to buy people would have a chauffeured luxury car. Right? Right.

Steve strode over the grass, fragrant from baking in the sun all day and finally cooling off with the orange evening. He peeked inside the car on his way past. Nothing extraordinary. Nothing distinguishing it from a regular human’s car.

No bodyguards of any kind met him inside his house. He called out, “Mom?”

He shrugged out of his vest as he heard familiar footsteps arriving to the foyer. His mom rounded the corner and—hugged him. They…weren’t much of a hugging household. Feeling her soft yet bony body was foreign and familiar at the same time.

“Come to the dining room.”

Steve sighed, now wishing he’d taken Robin up on her offer. He hung his vest on the coat hooks and left his keys in his jeans pocket. When he turned past the living room and kitchen, he tried to keep his curious frown to a minimum when he saw the figure sitting at their table. A black blazer hung off the back of his chair but his expensive, powder blue shirt hung loosely buttoned around his broad shoulders, allowing Steve to see the juncture of his throat and chest when he stood up. The small glint of gold hanging there, matching the dark blond hair...like browned butter or caramel. Brown at the roots, and shining bronze where the light dripped through it.

Steve couldn’t decide if he liked this guy’s mullet or not. Granted, Steve had worn something similar for a time, but he’d gotten the back trimmed up for the summer. The video store’s AC broke too often to have hair on his nape. Either way, the dark brows and lashes made Steve wonder how real that hair was—

“Steve, this is William Hargrove.”